Messages

106

The Green Room / Re: TEAM BUILDING - Part One - The Assistant

« on: Jun 17, 2011, 10:04 am »

I look for just three things.
1) Do our personalities mesh?  Can we make each other laugh when we're ready to kill everything and everyone else?  Can we yell at each other in a heated moment and both realize it's just the stress and not take it personaly or hold a grudge?

2) Can they learn and learn quickly?  Can they follow detailed instructions, and infer from those instructions what to do if an unexpected situation arises?  I can work with a totally un-trained ASM as long as they're someone with a good head on their shoulders and who is good at "learning by doing."  Don't get me wrong, trained is great, trainable is very doable.

3) Can they be trusted to work unsupervised?  Can I go to the booth every night and know that backstage is going to have someone on top of it?

If I can have those three things, everything else is negotiable.

107

The Green Room / Re: LINKS: Simple desktops

« on: Jun 14, 2011, 12:22 pm »

Oh, those are charming!  Thanks for sharing.

108

Self-Promotion / Directing a Summer Short at Academy Theatre

« on: Jun 13, 2011, 10:52 am »

Two days ago, I got a phone call out of the blue from a gentleman who I've worked for, as an SM, twice before:  "I'm looking for another director for our short play series.  I want you to do it."

Eeeep!  Yes, but eeep!  I haven't directed in...a decade!

So, I'm now directing Grand Dame by James Beck for the Academy Theatre's Summer Shorts, in Atlanta, July 9-11.

I've mentally subtitled it Short Scene for Actress and Two Monkeys.  I have plans and visions.  Oh yes.  Muwahahahahaha!

109

The Green Room / Re: Fun article - historians discover possible inspiration for Shakespeare's Ophelia

« on: Jun 09, 2011, 02:02 pm »

A friend posted this on her facebook, today, and I thought it was fascinating.  Plenty of modern day authors pull on things that happened in their childhood for inspiration.  It makes complete sense that the Bard did so, as well.

And I'd really love to read some more of those "coroners" reports.  These little details are the really interesting stuff from history.

110

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Labtop vs. Pencil and Script/Notepad

« on: Jun 09, 2011, 01:59 pm »

Oooooo, post-its for the first few rounds of blocking?  I love that idea!!! 
I could put them right on top of each other, so when the question comes, "What did we do, before?" I can just peel back a few layers.

Thanks for the idea, plutosams!  I use post-it arrows for cues in tech, but I never thought of applying the same idea to blocking!

111

Tools of the Trade / Re: Laptop help

« on: May 11, 2011, 12:47 pm »

And here's two features to consider probably no one but me thinks is worth checking, but have been lifesavers.  I wasn't looking for these details last time I bought a new laptop (December) but I've used the heck out of them.
1) ease of dimibility of the screen.  My computer has a button, right on the keyboard that lets me dim the screen down quickly, in low-light situations, or bring it back up nice and bright in bright situations.  Cuts down on eye strain looking from bright laptop around a darkened house in tech, and keeps your face from glowing out of the seats to the actors on stage.  And helps conserve battery life!
2) back-lit keyboard.  See above about dim screen and dark techs.  This was actually the deciding factor between two models that were otherwise, essentially, the same, and I have LOVED it.  Mine also has a button on the keyboard to turn this on and off, quickly.
Good luck, and have fun.  I always enjoy setting up a new computer to my specs!

112

The Green Room / Re: Stage managing and relationships

« on: Apr 18, 2011, 12:16 pm »

We have hit this topic before, but it was a few years ago, and it is very worth discussing again.

The most important thing I can say is to be straightforward with the other person from the beginning.  Be honest about your mad schedule, the time commitment theatre requires, whether or not out-of-town or touring work is something you plan on doing.  If they're willing to put up with that (or it maybe even an arrangement that is to their liking!), that's a good start.

While my marriage is in the process of ending, right now, I can say with certainty that the breakup has nothing to do with my career.  I told Tommy at the very beginning, "Theatre has been in my life 20 years longer than you; if you try to force me to choose between you and my career, you will lose out."  And besides the expected, "I never get to see yooooou!" whining on tech weeks, he never did.

113

The Green Room / Re: abandoned theaters from around the world...sigh

« on: Apr 06, 2011, 12:34 am »

I like the interior shots, best. 
Oh, god, the glorious architecture on some of these!  What a complete pity, not only that they're closed, but that no one else has found a non-traditional use for such gorgeous spaces!

114

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: RUNNING: How do you decide when to cancel a performance?

« on: Apr 05, 2011, 02:32 pm »

Well, after last night's storms, there is no power in the theatre, so we have to cancel tonight's first preview!  The decision was made, by the producers before I even arrived for this afternoon's rehearsal.  It's just not safe to have an audience in dark hallways.
Rehearsal will go on, however, as we have a generator and enough work/clip lights to safely, if not brightly, light the stage and backstage areas.

(As can be imagined, I said several unprintable things when I arrived and realized the sound was not a compressor, but the generator out back, and then left the building, as I had come in early to do some work cleaning up the Q-lab file...)

115

The Green Room / Re: The Stage Manager's Nightmare

« on: Mar 29, 2011, 01:00 pm »

I had my first Stage Manager nightmare of tech week, last night.  It was a doozy.
To start with, the set crew drank all the beer I brought them to have when they were done for the night, before they finished, leading to drunken carpentry, AND the fact that someone drank the botle of cider I had brought for myself, and no one could understand why I was cranky.
Then, a friend who had come to help out had a sudden, completely unexpected mental and emotional breakdown.  So, instead of working and/or getting rest, I spent all night trying to convince one of the strongest, most capable men I know that
a) he is not broken and useless and dangerous to those he loves
b) his friends do love him and want him around, and
c) getting drunk (on what, all the beer was gone!) and throwing himself off the roof was a very bad iea.

Apparently, while I was outside dealing with emotional issues, political issues had taken over the theatre.  When I went back inside there were a lot more people than there were supposed to be...because the freakin' FBI was convinced there was a terrorist hiding in the theatre.  And decided they needed to be onstage, during performance, to find him.
Which led to a completely farcical section of FBI agents and army personell being onstage, in bad costumes, trying to "fit in" while looking for a terrorist.  I considered having the flymen drop a piece of scenery on their heads, but decided against it, when I figured out they'd just think I was the terrorist.
I was lamenting the ugly dress I had to wear to run the show (for some reason, I'm always costumed in my SM nightmares) when I woke up.

116

The Green Room / "I've never been so grateful for X as when Y happened"

« on: Mar 27, 2011, 12:47 pm »

It can be something you do, another member of the company you're grateful for, the nearest coffee shop, etc.

I've never been so grateful that I don't suffer from stage fright as when an actor ripped his Achilles tendon in rehearsal, earlier this week, and I had to go be the male lead for the first designer run, the next day, in front of an "audience" of about twenty people.

(Aforementioned actor had to drop out of the show and get surgery, yikes!  We're all very sad to have lost him; he was phenomenal!)

117

The Green Room / Re: Funnest Tech Run Ever

« on: Mar 01, 2011, 11:34 am »

Tech for this last show, I was mixing up a new batch of blood, and had dripped a little on my hand, to check the color against skin.  As I was walking to the sink to wash it off, the ATD came down the hall, the other way.  On a mad whim, I said, "Robert, you really need to fix some of those protruding screws backstage!" and held out my hand to him. 
"Yeah, sure, where---- OH MY GOD!!!!!"
I wanted to keep the joke going, but couldn't keep a straight face.  I was laughing for at least five seconds before he finally calmed down and figured out he'd been had.  Then he chased me all the way to the bathroom and I had to lock myself in to avoid a beating.
It was a great laugh, and made my tech week.  I didn't even plan it!

118

Tools of the Trade / Re: File Totes

« on: Feb 28, 2011, 11:28 am »

I just realized, I hadn't updated.  I got one of the Jamie Raquel file totes from my dad for my last birthday, and it is awesome.  VERY sturdy, my script slides down behind the file folders, the interior pockets are just the right size for highlighter, sharpie, sharpie pen, red pen, black pen, pencil and eraser, and I can "hide" a few small things under the hanging files.  Most recently, that's been the hidey hole for the stash of herbal cigarettes smoked and altoids consumed during the show.
My ASM liked it so much, she bought one of her own!

119

The Green Room / Re: Thread to vent about / Actors behaving badly / As haiku only

« on: Feb 13, 2011, 01:29 pm »

How many shows have
I done here?  Why don't you trust
in my competence?

Producer is the
directors wife.  Guess who gets
caught in family fued.

Got midnight e-mail
telling me how to do my
job.  Paranoid much?

120

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: PROFESSIONALISM: cell phones onstage

« on: Feb 09, 2011, 11:38 pm »

I'm with loebtmc on this one, and it's not just clear com.  I know that, in the theatre I work in regularly, the entire sound system can start making that "aliens calling from the dark side of the moon" noise if someone's cell phone gets close enough to the speakers, certain cables, or the board.  I always turn mine totally off as soon as I know everyone involved in the running of the show is at the theatre.  Then I ask the cast to only use their phones in the dressing rooms, or just outside the stage door, and leave them in their dressing rooms, otherwise.  It only takes one cast member asking, "What IS that noise?" during tech, for them to get the point.